By Admin | 3 Comments
Last updated: Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tags: beach boys, beach boys album, hit songs, karaoke album, stack —

A tough karaoke question this week. Let’s dive straight in

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1. MAGICMAN
   January 1, 1970
   

   DEFINITELY…YOU HIT IT RIGHT ON THE BUTTON…

2. wiseguy
   January 1, 1970
   

   No, instrumental and karaoke are not the same thing. Karaoke has onscreen lyrics and backup singers (where required).

3. Disco Bob
   January 1, 1970
   

   No it was not. Here’s a little thing that I had found that will give you a little history behind karaoke.

   Karaoke is a Japanese abbreviated compound word: “kara” comes from “karappo” meaning empty, and “oke” is the abbreviation of “okesutura,” or orchestra. So there you have it. Empty Orchestra. Usually, a recorded popular song consists of vocals and instruments. Music tapes in which only the instruments are recorded (what we would call instrumentals) were named “karaoke” in Japan.
   It is now widely recognized that the use of karaoke started at a snack bar in Kobe City, Japan. It is said that when a strolling guitarist could not come to perform at the bar due to illness or other reasons, the owner of the bar prepared tapes of instrumental recordings, and his customers enjoyed singing to the tapes. Even though it is only legend, this might have been the beginning of karaoke, and since then, karaoke has been commercialized and has become popular all over Japan.
   Originally in the form of tape of a popular song’s instrumental, karaoke evolved to the compact disk, which can locate the beginning of a song immediately. This development also made possible the enhancement of video scenes to create an atmosphere suitable to each song, displayed on a TV monitor along with the words.
   Using technological innovations such as the video disk, laser disk, and CD graphics, karaoke has grown to be a major entertainment industry. Thanks to technological development and a new business called the “karaoke box.” Seizing upon the opportunity, entrepreneurs created the “karaoke box”, a roadside facility containing closed-door insulated rooms for singing. They are advertised as a place where you can sing to your heart’s content. The first karaoke box appeared in 1984 in a rice field in the countryside of Okayama Prefecture, just west of the Kansai area. It was built from a converted freight car.
   Now, the karaoke boom has spread abroad, enjoyed not only in Korea and China but also in Southeast Asia, the U.S., and Europe. Since karaoke displays the words of a song on a monitor, it has also been attracting the attention of countries trying to improve their literacy rate, as a good educational tool.
   It is likely that karaoke, the entertainment industry born in a small night spot in Kansai, will continue to make further strides in both technological development and popularity.
   It is said that since the popularization of records, radio, and TV, people have become passive receivers of entertainment. The advent of karaoke might help correct this phenomenon and make a great contribution to the history of musical entertainment.

   I hope this answers your question.

   “Disco” Bob